A Push in the Right Direction – Chapter 11 – emersli1!

Reading Time:
9 Minutes

Blood Adoption was a private, family ritual.

The two men set a charm on the boys so that they would be alerted if the lads woke, and descended to the ritual room in the basement.

Unlike many family ritual rooms, Ambrose ap Gaiar’s had an earthen floor.  His magic was rooted in the Green Magic of the earth, so access to that element gave strength and endurance to his ritual endeavors.

The two men removed their shoes and socks, walking barefoot to the living stump serving as the family altar.  Kneeling they held the goblet between them.  Ambrose ap Gaiar took a small silver knife he had been given by his father and carefully made a small cut at the base of his thumb.  Allowing five drops of blood to fall into the potion, he looked at the man before him.

“Would it be acceptable to you to carry my grandfa’s name?  As your second name, I mean.  Since ye don’t have one?”

Corvus studied his soon-to-be father.  “I would be honored.”  Privately, Quinn thought that if it was too terrible, he could just not use it publicly.  It’s not like it would be his first or last name.

Gaiar nodded, and began.  “Great Lady, may our purpose here be pleasing to you.  Bless our endeavor, and grant us to always walk in your paths.”

A gentle wind blew around the edges of the room, startling Corvus somewhat.  “May I be found worthy of the Family Magick, that I may strengthen the Family Magick in return.”

Corvus tipped the goblet into his mouth.  He expected the potion to taste foul, as most of them did.  Instead, he was pleasantly surprised when it tasted of …the florals of springtime, with the fruits of summer, followed quickly by the woods of autumn and finishing with the clean, crisp taste of new-fallen snow.  He took the knife, and making a similar cut to his own thumb he allowed three drops of blood to fall on the altar.

It began slowly.  The earthen floor beneath them bloomed, and from the living stump a small stream erupted.  The stump reshaped itself to form a small grotto at one end, allowing the stream to pool and then gently reabsorb into the stump itself.  

“I name you my son, Corvus Myrrdin Quinn.  May you always walk in the ways of our Lady Cerridwen, seeking her guidance in times of struggle.  As I will, so mote it be.”  

Before Corvus could offer his response and end the ritual, another presence seeped into the ritual space.  The flowers died away, leaving bunches of dried herbs and seeds behind.  The water turned to ice, and the little breeze that had been blowing merrily about slowed, and chilled.

“Corvus Myrrdin Quinn.  I too have a claim on you.  You have walked my path, and will again, as all living things do.  Do not forget what you have learned.  I am not a monster to be feared, but peace at the end of one journey, and a gateway to the next.  I can free as well as entrap, and my weight does not have to weigh you down.  It is only through me that rebirth can happen, and my gifts provide healing and rest.”

The stream thawed, but a small antler grew up out of the stump, wrapping around and over the grotto protectively.  Corvus bowed his head.  “I am Corvus Myrrdin Quinn ap Gaiar.  I will walk in the paths of our Lady Cerridwen and in the ways of my Lord Arawn.  I will seek their guidance in times of struggle, and honor the Family Magick that has accepted me this day.  As I will, so mote it be.”

Slowly the earthen floor returned to normal, though the stump retained its new features.  Corvus felt exhausted, and could only think of one thing to say as he looked at the old man kneeling with him.

“Myrrdin?  Seriously?”

Ambrose ap Gaiar chuckled.  “Ah, lad.  It was no’ so unusual a name in the 1400s.  My grandfather was born near a place called Caermarthon in 1451.  He was called Myrrdin, gaining the name ‘Belle Flor’ for he was an herbologist of great renown.  He was nearly two hundred years old when he sought out a cutting of some plant grown only in Florence at a monastery.”

“While he was negotiating with the monks, he noticed that one of the postulants had a magical aura.  Grandfa’ left with the cutting and an apprentice.  A likely lad named Gaius.  Over time Gaius became like a son to Myrddin, so he blood-adopted him.  He too was an herbologist, but his passion lay in healing.”  The old man seemed far away in thought.

“He took the name Gaius ap Myrddin, as was the custom in Wales in the mid-1600s.  But many called him Balfour, from his father’s nickname.  He lived in the area of the Talley lakes, and one day in the mid-1800s while out harvesting yellow lilies he found a babe among the reeds.  Seeing the Lady’s touch on him, Gaius gathered him up and took him home.  He named me ‘Madoc’ because he said I was fortunate to have survived.  And he blood-adopted me into his line.”

Corvus listened even more intently as the story became more personal and less historical.  

“I grew up in the wild places of Carmarthenshire, and when the time came for me to choose my path of study my father gave me his grandfather’s name … Ambrose.  I have some skill in herbology, and some small ability in healing … but not to my father or grandfather’s degree.  Potions were my passion always and I have little skill in healing arts, but I promised my father to be a force for healing in the world.  The mid-1800s in Wales was a time of great upheaval and unrest, in the wizarding world no less than the muggle one.  I saw too much illness, too many catastrophic injuries… so I devoted myself to developing treatments and cures, and I took the name Ambrose ap Gaiar.”

“Would you rather I used the surname ‘ap Ambrose’ in the traditional style?”  Corvus was willing, if that was what his father wanted.

The older man chuckled a little.  “No, son.  The old ways aren’t used anymore.  Our Family name in the eyes of Magick is Balfour.  I’ll take you to the bank, and you’ll see.  The fade will register your accounts under that name.  Quinn is fine, for personal or even professional use, but for finance and inheritance you will be Corvus Balfour.”

Thinking about the Family Magick, Corvus asked about something that had puzzled him.  “Why did the stump change?  I didn’t know a living thing could even be an altar until I saw yours … ours.”  He shot a shy smile at his father.

Gaiar thought for a moment.  “Well, I believe it is because water is your strongest element.  Mine is earth, and you have strong connections there too, but water is the element of potions and healing arts.  I don’t have enough water to be a true healer, but that might be a path you take later in life.  Now, come lad.  My old bones need a fire and a cup of tea before bed.  And ye look ready to keel over.”

The two men rose and walked to the stairs, picking up their discarded footwear along the way.

It had been a long night, and a long road, but Corvus Quinn Balfour was finally home.

And tomorrow his sons would join him in the Family Magick, and they too would be home.

Corvus woke to the sensation of being watched.

Turning his head to the side, he saw two sets of eyes peering at him from the configured cot next to his bed.

“Good morning, Thaddeus.  Good morning, Matthias.”  He greeted each of his sons as he did every morning.

“Goo’ Mo’nin’ Papa!” The two boys chorused together.

Corvus sat up in bed and swung his feet over the edge.  Pulling his dressing gown over his pajama pants, he set about getting his boys ready for the day.  Both had stayed dry through the night, so the first order of business was bathroom trips.

As he was helping his boys wash their hands in front of the small sink in the restroom connected to his bedroom, Corvus became aware of curious little stares.  The third time water went flying because one of the boys was paying more attention to him than to what they were doing, he asked.

“So, my boys.  What’s so interesting, hmmm?”

“Ears Papa!”  “You eyes dif’ret.”  Two little responses chirped back at him eagerly.

Studying himself in the mirror over the sink, Corvus saw that they were correct.  Eyes that had been black yesterday morning were now a warm golden brown.  And turning his head, he got a good look at an ear that had been completely human yesterday.  Today it curved gently to a soft point at the tip.  

Now that was startling.

He hadn’t been aware of any creature blood in his background, and Pare’s ears were human as well.  Maybe the Prince’s?  Thinking of the way his Grandfather Prince had thrown his mother out of the family for daring to sully their purity, Corvus had to snort.

But now his sons were waiting for an answer.

“Yes boys.  How clever of you to spot that.  Last night Avi brought me into the Family Magick.  I suppose it made some changes.  How exciting!”  He didn’t want the boys to be scared.  As young as they were, the chances of physical changes following the blood adoption were high.

As he struggled with Thad’s sparse hair and Matty’s knots, Corvus thought about how to introduce the topic.  Finally deciding to just state it factually, if simply, he looked down at his sons.  “Today Avi and I will bring you into the Family Magick.  It will be exciting to see if you have any changes tomorrow morning.”

Matthias looked intrigued, but Thaddeus looked determined.  “Want red.”  He pointed firmly at his head.  “Like Mummy.”

“Well, I can’t promise that Thaddeus,” Quinn cautioned.  “But we can ask the Lady, if it’s that important to you.”

Herding both boys out to the great room, Corvus saw his father dishing up their morning oatmeal.  As he got his sons seated at the table, he caught his father’s eye.  Blinking exaggeratedly, he showed off his new eyes, now almost identical to the pair looking at him from over the oatmeal pan.

Ambrose chuckled a bit.  “Aw, I see ye got a wee change there.  Must have been a bit of a jolt.”

Corvus smiled wryly.  “Oh, that wasn’t the jolt.”  Turning his head, he displayed the new shape of his ears.

The older man smiled.  “Well now, that’s a bit of a puzzle.  Not from my line, I don’t think.  Though really as a foundling, my knowledge about my ancestry is limited.  But the fade have never indicated that I had anything … extra … going on.  Well, we’ll get ye an inheritance check at the bank tomorrow or the next day.”

Turning his smile on his wiggling grandsons he continued, “And today it will be your turns.  But not until after breakfast.  And a visit to Mirabelle.”

Matthias began to moo excitedly, while Thaddeus restated his request.  “Red.  Like Mummy.”

The two men smiled at the boys.  

It was an excellent beginning to their new lives.